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It seems that I’m treating my double plantar fascitiis with no medications with a success. How did I do to avoid painkillers and gastric protectors so far? By following some little expedients. Key words are ice, stretching and massages. But let’s go step by step.

What is the plantar fascitiisIf you’ve landed here by googling it, unfortunately you know what I’m talking about. If you start having a terrible and persistent (even after some hours of rest) foot pain, mainly on the heel and along the sole, you are probably catching a plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the foot sole muscles, poorly speaking. Plantar fasciitis could have been caused by a number of elements: overtraining, wrong running postures, wrong trainers choice, obesity, running on very strong surfaces. That’s it: if you spend 20/25 hours in a row by running and walking on incredibly tough surfaces and be overtraining like me, and you could also collect your shining (and painful) plantar fasciitis on both feet, just like me.

SymptomsIn my case, the plantar fasciitis begun with a pain on both feet soles as soon as I woke up in the morning and took the first steps on the ground. Then the pain faded, but it begun fading later and later during the days until it lasted for more than 24 hours. That was about 7 days ago. I felt a very violent pain whilst contracting my feet muscles and touching the plantar bands, therefore I realised it was about a plantar fasciitis, especially on my left foot.

RemediesSince I spend even 8/9 hours in a row by running or walking, if I had taken a painkiller or an anti inflammatory (which most of the times have also a painkiller action) I couldn’t have felt the pain increasing and consequently I would have made everything worse than ever. So I found alternative cures and remedies I listed below.

Ice: alleviates the pain and helps to attenuate the inflammation. I put a bottle of water into the freezer and then I used it like a massage tool by rolling it up and down under my feet soles. This way I combine the ice and the massage effects which relax the plantar bands.

Massage: by holding in a slightly tension the foot sole (you can just flex you foot toes towards yourself) massage the plantar band with the thumb from the top of the fingers to the heel, then massaging from right to left horizontally, proceeding from the bottom of the heel to the upper forefoot. I alternate those two massages every 5 minutes, 3/4 times per day. Sometimes a veil of Voltarol gel helps me out, but it’s the only medication I’m taking.

Stretching: the right-hand man against every injury, a permanent feature of my all day. Plantar fasciitis is often caused also by a muscle shortening of the foot band, therefore stretching it as a daily routine is a good way to avoid any kind of inflammations. To stretch it you can do calves stretching workout. Moreover – like I usually do every morning before getting out of my bed – stretching the feet toes towards me by using a towel.

Kinesio taping: a good taping could alleviate the pressure on the sole bands as well as tibial and peroneal tendons malleolus-deep. A very useful trick to avoid asking sick leave at work. Attention: I’ve studied some books before using kinesio tapes.

Shoes and insoles: I’m using Vibram shoes when I have to stand up for a lot of time, in order to cushion the pain. Vibram shoes well support the foot arch and make you feel walking barefoot. In alternative there are a lot of specific insoles which support the arch as well and hold the plantar bands in a relaxed position.

Of course it’s forbidden to train themselves if you are in pain. Better safe than sorry and repet it more and more times. What about the results of my remedies? I can’t state so far that I’m totally “out of danger” because I’m still feeling a bit of pain, especially on my left foot. With a hint of perseverance I could downgrade my inflammation from an unbearable level to a better tolerable level within a week.
If you have any other tips to cure plantar fasciitis with no medication please let me know!

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4 comments

Being in pain for a prolonged amount of time is awful. As if it weren’t bad enough to ‘feel’ the pain, the actual experience can have an effect on a person’s daily activities: work, sleep, study, concentration, mood, etc.
Often medication can make the pain more bearable, but most of the time it doesn’t solve the cause of the problem, and it can have side effects. Sometimes these side effects are worse than the original problem!
I am glad you’ve been able to ‘reduce’ the pain by trying alternative remedies, which are definitely more natural, and I hope you manage to keep it under control for the future too :-)